


Amaryllis

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Disabled Character, Dorks in Love, Eventual Sex, Fluff, M/M, Post-Sburb/Sgrub, Rating May Change, Trolls on Earth, but hes a big scary guy with scars everywhere, dave strider is a dork that likes flowers, later ptsd, no one remembers the game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 21:18:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1998180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave Strider looks like someone out of a slasher movie, but that doesn't stop you from staring.<br/>...<br/>In which John Egbert, a disabled college student, finds a friend (and something more) in his newest neighbor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amaryllis

**Author's Note:**

> well this is a new story hmnhmhmhmmm for john and dave post sburb. let's just say they beat the game, all is well, but the toll for it is that they won't remember any of it, and that they'll be scattered across the US, all humans and trolls alike. They have memories that span across the years they were playing, and they'll all sort of know each other through their 'highschool' friendships or whatever.
> 
> john is crippled because it was something that happened in the game near the end, and it didn't reset their bodies to dave is left with a bunch of scars from all of his other dave selves joining. but of course, they think other stuff happened instead where they got their injuries.
> 
> i'm gonna stop talking now, yep.

Your new neighbor looks like someone out of a slasher movie. 

You’ve only seen Dave Strider a handful of times, actually. Sometimes, he’s out in the apartment’s pool, swimming in his dumb aviators in the butt-crack of dawn. During those times, you look down from your second-story window and raise your eyebrows at his strange shenanigans. 

You wonder how he gathers up the courage to even take off his shirt in front of others, because his back, stomach, and neck are all covered in web-like scars. On one occasion, you imagine playing connect-the-dots with them.

That sounded less insensitive in your head.

On the second week of you two being neighbors, when you’re contemplating saying hello, you quite literally run into him in the hall. Or, he runs into your wheelchair, and sends you skidding on the carpet.

Oh, did you forget to mention the wheelchair? Oops.

“Holy shit, I am _so _sorry.” It's the first time you've heard Dave speak, and at that moment, you could care less that you were sprawled on the floor with no means of getting up again, because his voice is deep and manly, and it sounds so much richer than you imagined it would be. He's also a lot more genuine than you thought he'd be, but hey, you aren't complaining. Your palm shoves your bulky glasses back up your face when they begin to slip.__

__You're brought back to the present by the aching in your back and the burning in your arms. Dave is kneeling beside you and trying to get you up, but your eyes are locked on the blood seeping from your palms. You're pretty sure you are beginning to look panicked, and Dave notices right away. "Hey, hey, dude, you alright?" Your eyes, wide and unseeing, flit over to his face, covered with dark lines and freckles. You remember what your friend Karkat told you about panic attacks. Deep breath. Hold. Release. Apparently Dave knows what's happening too, because he rubs your shoulder while you wait for it to pass. He doesn't speak, just keeps you grounded while you phase out of the panic. After a minute or so of clutching Dave's side like a baby, you clear your throat and your mind begins to defog itself._ _

"Yeah, I'm fine." Your voice comes out as a mere whisper, and you manage a smile to show him that you're alright. "Would you mind helping me back in my chair, though? It seems like I'm in a bit of a pickle, haha."

"Man, I feel like a dick now," he says, lifting you from your underarms and hauling upwards. "Can I help you somehow?"

Once you're settled back in your wheelchair, you feel a lot more secure. You make a point not to look at your arms and the blood getting your chair all dirty. Instead, you look at Dave. Tall, intimidating Dave, whom surely isn't as frightening as other people in your apartment make him out to be. Sure, he's a bit scary, but he seems so kind! You sock him in the arm and laugh. "No, it's fine. Thanks for helping me back up. I'm John, John Egbert."

He worries his bottom lip and pushes his shades back up the bridge of his nose. "Uh, Dave Strider. I know you, you're my neighbor right? The college student?" You nod, and he continues. "Bro, seriously. Let me help clean you up, that has to be painful." He almost sounds desperate. Maybe that's the reason you finally relent to his tirade of apologies. With a sigh and a nod, his whole face lights up (as much as it can being as _stoic _as it is) and he goes behind you to push at your chair. You feel so damn hopeless like this. For the umpteenth time since you got in that accident, you wish with all of your might that you still had your legs and that people would just _stop _pitying you so much.____

When you get back to your apartment with the help of one Dave Strider, you fish your keys out of your pocket and sigh through your nose. You _had _left your apartment to go to the store, but your run-in with Dave left you a bit worse for wear, and you supposed that milk and eggs could wait until morning. It's too much of a pain to roll up that damned hill outside anyway, and you'd much rather relax in the comfort of your own home and play League with Karkat or something.__

__You've always prided yourself with how clean you tend to keep your apartment, and you hope that Dave is impressed at the spotlessness, at least on some level (it's not like your room is this clean, however. You just like fooling people into thinking you're a clean person in some weird sense of pranksters gambit). You insist that you can roll yourself --"Because I'm not a fucking child, dude!"-- and push yourself over the small section of carpet and on to the hard-wood floor. _Oh, sweet, sweet gliding, how I have missed you _._ ___

You look back at Dave, who is following you like a lost puppy, and raise an eyebrow. "Uh, thanks and everything Dave, but you can leave if you want now. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

He nods a few times and shoves his hands in his pockets, his whole head bobbing up and down as he slouches over. "Oh. Yeah, alright man. I'll be around I guess. See you."

When he leaves, all you can think is, _wow, that was so fucking weird _.__

....

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] \-- ****

CG: WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT, EGBERT?  
EB: well hey to you too, karkat!  
CG: I WILL REPEAT MYSELF. WHAT THE _FUCK _DO YOU WANT?__  
CG: I'M NOT IN THE MOOD.  
CG: ACTUALLY, I'M SO FAR OUT OF THE MOOD THAT I'M PRACTICALLY ON ANOTHER PLANET RIGHT NOW.  
CG: OUT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM, ACTUALLY.  
EB: dude, chill.  
EB: is this about your troll-hatemesis or whatever you have with what's her face?  
CG: FIRST OFF, IT ISN'T CALLED A 'HATEMESIS', YOU UNCULTURED PIECE OF LITERAL GARBAGE. IT'S CALLED A KISMESIS. AND SECOND OFF, 'WHAT'S HER FACE'S NAME IS TEREZI. MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR HUMAN ASS, IT ISN'T A METAPHORICAL OR LITERAL HAT. AND THIRD, AND MOST FUCKING IMPORTANTLY: SHE ISN'T MY KISMESIS.  
CG: YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THIS, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND CIVILIZED.  
EB: well jeez sorry!  
EB: i'm going to stop you there before you  
EB: i don't know,  
EB: spill even more word-vomit on this chat.  
CG: WHO GIVES A BARFING FUCK ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK, ANYWAY? I DO NOT WORD VOMIT. I JUST HAVE TO SPREAD KNOWLEDGE LIKE I’M MASSAGING SHITTY SPARKLEDUST TO IDIOTS LIKE YOURSELF.  
CG: FUCK KNOWS NO ONE ELSE IS UP FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE TASK.  
EB: bluh fine. can we stop talking about your weird troll romance?  
EB: dave ran into me today!  
EB: quite literally, too  
EB: i was on the floor and i kind of started bleeding a bit. :/  
CG: HOLY SHIT, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?  
CG: DAVE IS THAT HUMAN NEIGHBOR OF YOURS, RIGHT?  
CG: DID YOU... HAVE ANOTHER ATTACK?  
EB: yeah but i'm fine, i swear!  
EB: i just kind of... clung to him or whatever  
EB: it was actually kind of weird.  
EB: yeah that's him.   
CG: DO YOU NEED ME TO COME OVER OR SOMETHING?  
EB: no gosh karkat! you're treating me like some sort of little kid!  
EB: you know i hate it when you do that.  
CG: I CAN'T HELP IT.  
CG: YOU'RE STUPID JUST LIKE A WRIGGLER, I'M TAKING PITY ON YOU. A WHOLE SHITSTORM PLETHORA OF PITY, AND NOT THE BAD KIND. THE, HOW YOU SAY 'FRIENDSHIP' KIND.  
EB: hehe you're not cheating on gamzee, are you?  
CG: NO, THIS IS DIFFERENT.  
CG: GOD, YOU'RE SUCH A FUCKING IMBECILIC SHITSPONGE.  
CG: I'M DONE. GOODBYE.  
EB: noooooooo! don't leave ugh i'm bored and lonely.  
CG: FINE. WANT TO PLAY COD OR SOMETHING? WATCH A MOVIE?  
CG: AND IF YOU SAY YOU WANT TO WATCH CON AIR OR SOMETHING EQUALLY RIDICULOUS I WILL PLANT MY FOOT ON YOUR LEFT ASS CHEEK, PUNT YOU INTO THE GREEN SUN, AND MAKE SURE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR ANCESTORS IS IMPLANTED WITH MY SOLE OF JUSTICE.  
EB: i haven't actually enjoyed that movie in years karkat. chill  
EB: want to watch back to the future?  
CG: FINE. I'LL MEET YOU ON THE STREAM.  
CG: BYE.

__ \-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] \-- _ _

....

Your name is now Dave Strider, and you feel like you know that wheel-chaired boy from somewhere else.

To be fair, he's about the same age as you, so you could have seen him around _anywhere _, but there's something about him that strikes you as extremely familiar. It must be his eyes, you think, because although his skin is amazingly tan, his eyes are the brightest blue you've ever seen. They remind you of an open sky in the middle of a hot Texan July. There's something about him, though; his smile, his teeth, his arms, his face, his _everything _that seems so eerily familiar.____

____When you get back to your apartment (right next to the source of your distress's room, of course) you end up throwing your shades to the floor and collapsing on your futon._ _ _ _

____Nightmares of a red land and death greet you, and John Egbert is smiling the whole time through._ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> wooo how fun


End file.
